“There is nothing either good or bad – but thinking makes it so.” – William Shakespeare

Our interpretation of events is often more important that the events by themselves. To illustrate this point, I will highlight a day I had some years ago while traveling from Switzerland to the United States

Viewpoint 1: I had breakfast in Zürich, lunch in London, and Dinner in Chicago. WHAT AN INCREDIBLE DAY!

Viewpoint 2: My original flight was cancelled at the last minute due to technical problems, and I was rerouted to another flight on a different airline and this had a connection to yet another flight within a whole another country, resulting in many extra hours of extra waiting in lines, running through airports, sitting in gateways, and numerous other delays, increasing my travel time by many hours. When I finally got near Chicago, a major thunderstorm forced my plane into a holding pattern and the landing was delayed by an extra 90 minutes after the long international flight. WHAT A HORRIBLE DAY.

Bottom Line: All the above facts are true. So are the potential ways to understand the day, full of both victories and defeats. The above Shakespeare quote is valid. Yet, I choose Viewpoint 1: it was an incredible day. To be able to travel from Switzerland to America in a single day is truly remarkable. Just imagine the expense, the risk, and time that were a required investment to make that same trip 300 or just 100 years ago. Minor (and somewhat standard) airport issues pale in comparison to having the technological gift of air travel.